A research team, affiliated with UNIST has developed intrinsically stretchable quantum-dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) that combine high brightness, fine pixel patterning, and mechanical stretchability in a single device platform.

Led by Professor Moon Kee Choi of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UNIST, the team worked with Professor Jiwoong Yang's team at DGIST and Associate Director Dae-Hyeong Kim of the IBS Center for Nanoparticle Research to develop a fabrication strategy known as LIFT—ligand engineering at the interface and intaglio film transfer printing. The method enabled stretchable light-emitting layers to be patterned at high resolution while preserving the electrical and mechanical properties needed for high-performance devices.

Stretchable displays are being explored for wearable electronics, electronic skin, and soft robotics, where conventional rigid displays cannot readily conform to moving or irregular surfaces. Many existing designs accommodate stretching by allowing the connections between pixels to deform while the light-emitting pixels themselves remain relatively rigid. As the display expands, this can reduce the proportion of the surface that actively emits light.

Making the emissive material itself stretchable could overcome this limitation, but it introduces a different set of problems. Soft, elastomeric materials are difficult to pattern into sharply defined microscopic pixels, while the polymers that provide stretchability can interfere with charge transport and reduce light-emitting efficiency.

The researchers addressed both problems by engineering the surface of a quantum-dot nanocomposite. They selectively replaced polymer-rich regions at the surface with short, polar ligands, creating a nanoscale interface that lowers the barrier to hole injection while preserving the mechanical compliance of the underlying material.

They paired this interface engineering with a thermally assisted transfer-printing process. Applying heat during printing concentrates mechanical strain along the boundaries of each pattern, allowing the soft emissive film to separate cleanly and form sharply defined pixels rather than stretching or tearing during transfer.

Using the process, the team patterned quantum-dot emissive layers at resolutions of up to 16,000 pixels per inch (PPI) and produced red, green, and blue stretchable patterns. The researchers also demonstrated a 12 × 12 multicolor passive-matrix display, showing that the technique could be extended beyond individual pixels to an addressable display architecture.

The fully stretchable QLEDs remained functional at strains exceeding 65% and reached a maximum luminance of 53,300 cd m⁻², with an external quantum efficiency of 8.0%. In conventional device architectures, the engineered emissive layers achieved an external quantum efficiency of up to 23.9%.

“This work provides a way to improve both the performance and resolution of intrinsically stretchable displays,” said Professor Choi. “The approach could help advance soft optoelectronic systems that require light-emitting devices to conform closely to the human body or other deformable surfaces.”

Supported by programs of the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), including the Mid-Career Researcher Program and the Nano & Materials Technology Development Program, the study was published online in   Nature Nanotechnology on September 14, 2026.

Journal Reference

Jisu Yoo, Kyunghoon Lee, Ji Su Kim,   et al ., “High-resolution intrinsically stretchable quantum-dot displays through thermally assisted intaglio transfer printing,”   Nat. Nanotechnol., , (2026).